Plug-puller.



' I 1". c. HANKE. 1 'PLUG PULLER. APPLICATION FILED JULY 13, 1914.

I Patented Sept 22, 1914.

it is more particularly concerned with manipulation ofplngs belonging to electric.

o. Hanna,

F IdlDESTO, CALIEGRNIA, ASSlL'GNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC GOMKANY, A. GORFUR-ATION 033 NEW YORK.

PLUG-PULLER.

specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented Sept. 22, 1914.

spplicstion filed. July 13, 1914. Serial No. 850,677.

To all whom it'may concern.

Be it known that I Franz; C. HANKE, a citizen of the United States, residingat Mo- .o, in. county of Stanislaus, State of l ernia, have invented certain new and ussf ...l lino movements in Plug-Pullers, of i the ollowing is a specification.

and

the

, invention relates to plug pullers,

switch and cutont devices and the like such as are used in the primary connections of transformers, in distribution circuits, in the connections of series lightmg circuits to the mam line, and for a great many other purposes.

l Vhile the plugs of such devices have hitherto been pulled and inserted by taking hold of them directly with the hand, it has been found that this practice at best in- -volves acertain amount of inconvenience and danger-especially in wet'weather GUIDES since it sometimes happens that an arc is drawn the plug is pulled, or that a leakage patch from the line to the plug head or handle develops, or that the plug hestutically -charged. Manipulation of plugs directly by hand is the more awkward and inconvenient when (as is usually I the case) the devices to which they belong are mounted high above the ground on poles or cross-arms carrying the wires of various circuits; and the risk under these circumstances is sometimes greatly augmented by the location of the devices in positions where it is impossible to get at them without r aching or climbing among the wires. iVith my plug-puller, even the most inaccessible plugs can be pulled 'or inserted without any necessity for taking hold of them with the hand or any risk of coming in. contact with wires-and sometimes, when the switch or cut-out devices are not too high, without climbing at all.

in my plug puller I employ simple means for the handle or head oi the plug which can readily be made to take hold in such a way necessary to pull even the tightest plug.

as not to yield under the force In addition to ail'ording this and various other advantages such as above indicated, the instrument can be made strong, rugged, simpie and convenient, and easy and inexpensive to manufacture.

l have hereinafter set detail the best forms of it at pres zorth ent known to me; yet while my invention extends even to various special features and details of construction and combinations and arrangements of partsshown and described; it is not confined thereto, but can be otherwise carried out and embodied,-as will be apparent both from my description of particular forms and from my claims.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cut-out device mounted on a cross-arm with my plug pullerengaging the plug ready to pull it. Fig. 2'is a fragmentary view showing the plug engaging device tilted forward toward the observer, on a larger scale than Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a similar view of a puller with a modified form of engaging device; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side view; and Fig- 5 is an end view. Figs. 6 and 7 show a further modification of the engaging device.

In Fig. 1 the pole 1 is shown as carrying three cross arms 2, 8, 4t which in turn carry the wires of a numher of circuits. The wires 5 on the middle cross-arm 3 may belong to mam 2000 volt distribution circuits, for

- example, and the wires 6 on the lower cross arm 4 may belong to local series lighting circuits of the same or lower voltage. As shown, the Wires 5 of one of these main circuits on the middle cross-arm 3 are connected to the primary of a transformer mounted behind the pole 1 and the cut-out device 7 mounted on the middle cross-arm 3 is included in one of these connections, while two of the local circuit wires 6 on the lower cross-arm 4'. areconnected to the secondary of this transformer. The plug puller is shown as comprising an insulating rod 8 of any convenient length having at one end engaging device 9 comprises opposed parts 12-, 12 adapted to engage at either side above, the plug head 10. and that these engaging parts 12, 12 in effect form a fork extending transversely of the rod 8 and opening other metal tubing about toward one side thereof. At its base 13 the fork thus formed is attached to one side of a sleeve portion of the plug engaging device 9, and the rod or handle 8 is secured in this sleeve by ascrew, bolt, rivet, or the like 1i. As the engaging device 9 shown is intended to take or receive the plug 11 sidewise, the outer ends of the parts 12, 12 diverge or flare outward so as to facilitate the entrance of the plug into the fork. As thus far described, the device 9 can easily be made from a suitable length ot'brass or of an inch thick and 1-1- inches in diameter by merely cutting into it laterally near one end and removing a portion of suitable width for more than l80 of its circumference and then severing the portion between the lateral cut and the end at about the middle and bending it open to the form shown. Or, instead of thus cutting away a lateral portion of a previously formed tube to accommodate the plug head 10, etc, one may suitably notch opposite edges of a rectangular into a tube etc. as shown.

piece of sheet metal and then bend it up.

Either of these modes of construction enables the parts 12, 12 to be made quite strong and unyielding against a pull on the rod 8 to withdraw the plug 11 from the device "Y.

I In order to insure that when pulled the plug 11 shall remain in theengaging device 9 regardless of how the plug puller may be turned and handled, I prefer to provide yielding means for retaining the plug in the fork formed by the parts 12, 12. For this purpose the portions of the parts 12, 12 between which the plug enters may be made resiliently yielding with reference to one another and may have outwardly divergent surfaces, so that they shall be forced apart by the plug and then spring together and retain it. As shown in Fig. 2, these roletively yielding portions consist of the free ends 15, 15 of a strip 16 of cold-rolled copper or brass or other springy metal fastened inside of the fork by three'rivets 17. The

' ends of the parts 12, 12 adjacent the springs 15, -15 are further apart than the latter, so that the only resistance or hindrance to the entrance of the plug into the fork comes,

from said springs. Besides the springs 15,

115, the means for retaining and holding the plug 11 in the fork may include a yielding member 18 consisting of a strip of springy sheet .metal extending upward and forward from the rivet 18 which secures it to the rear of the tube.-

In the engaging device shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 the parts 16 and 18 illustrated in Fig. 2 are dispensed with. Here the resiliently yieldin portions of the parts 12, 12 which are force apart by the entering plu 11 are their free outer ends, whichaocor shown in'Fi s. 6 and 7, resilience of the is at the front and only in the sleeve portion mgly lie closer together than in Fig. 2.

The resilient yielding of the parts 12, 12 with reference to one another necessary to secure the same action as in Fig. 2 results from their own springiness,enhanced if it need be, by a longitudinal slot 20 at the rear of the tube extending down nearly or quite to its lower end. As shown especially in Figs. 4 and 5, the parts 12, 12 are inclined downward a little toward the open end of the fork in order that the head 10 of the plug 11 ma T stayi'n it better, and the metal of the tube is bulged out a little at 21 to accommodate the head 10 better.

In the further modified engaging device parts 12 may e almost or entirely dispensed with, reliance being placed on the tendency of the top heavy plug to tilt in the engaging device and on the friction of its consequent engagement ,.with said parts at their up r and lower edges to keepit in said device. The device may advantageously be made from drawn steel tubin by means of suitable .dies. The slot o the drawn tubing of the device; but as this sleeve portionfi's' firmly secured on the rod 8 by two rivets or the like, the slot obviously does not-afiect the action of the device.

It will readily be seen that the plug 11 can be put in an engaging. device 9 of'any of the above described forms and theninsorted in the cut-out device 7 by means of the plug puller just as easily as it can be withdrawn. For ordinary urposes the over all length of the plug pu or need not e'xceed two feet, thou h of courseit may be made as long as des1red.

What I claim as new and desire to occur by Letters :Patent of the United States, is 1. A plu puller comprising a rod havin at one on a plug engaging devioewit opposed parts adapted to en age at either side above the plug head an unyieldingly to a pull on the rod, portions of said parts between which the plug enters heing reeiliently yielding with reference to one another-' so as to be forced apart by the plug and then spring together. Y 2. A plug puller compr' :mrodha at one end a. plug-engagingvim-m to receive the plug sidewise, said-dcvioebomprising a. fork for engaging abovn' theplu end that extends transversely; ofi the': and is unyielding to s-pull onthe sani ize including yielding means for mstainiug-itho Plugi like fOllllL I 3. pugpu ercom ns'mg' arod n] at one end a tronsverselg extending forkior' engaging above the plug hcaclgthat 1Mv yielding to a pull on therrod, .portionsoi f said fork betwoenwhichfthe plug-router! j having outwardly divergent surfaces Lind 1 being resilientlyyieidin with .refermooto one another so ante-hog roedspfi'tihythb 1 ceiving a handle and a transversely 1,11.1,eeo

' endhaving the portion between the lateral out and the end bent open to form a. transversely extending fork for engaging above the head.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my 15 hand this 2nd day of July, 191%.

FRANK O. HANKE 'lVit-nesses:

M. G. Boom,

' 1. G. Srmnwoon, P. H. GRIFFIN. 

